1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and an apparatus for removing volatilized materials from an enclosed space, and in particular, preventing the condensation of volatilized materials on selected surfaces within the space in a glass making process.
2. Technical Background
In a typical glass manufacturing system, various raw constituents or batch materials, generally in a pulverulent state, are introduced or “charged” into a melting furnace. The pulverulent batch materials are melted to form a viscous molten material that can be flowed to a fabrication portion of the system. The viscous molten material, when cooled, forms a glass, and may be produced in a variety of shapes. For the purposes of discussion and not limitation, the viscous molten material will hereinafter be referred to as molten glass or glass melt.
The manufacture of glass articles such as glass sheets by melting raw materials in a furnace is known. In one such process, known as a down-draw or fusion process, molten glass overflows the sides of a trough in a forming body. The separate flows then re-unite, or fuse, at the bottom of the forming body to form a continuous ribbon of glass. Separate sheets of glass are then cut from the ribbon. At least a portion of the forming apparatus is housed within a space that is at least partially enclosed by walls.
Unfortunately, volatilized materials are generated by or from the molten glass, and these volatilized materials tend to condense on surfaces within the confines of the forming space, most notably on the inside surfaces of the enclosure walls or the surfaces of equipment contained within the enclosure used to draw the glass ribbon. Condensed materials can accumulate on equipment surfaces and interfere with the thermal properties of the surface, or break off and contaminate the glass ribbon or interfere with the thermal characteristics of the process.
The present disclosure describes methods and apparatus for mitigating these effects.